Page 68 of White Raven

“Yeah, Boss, that’s his mark.”

“Fuck!” Boss bellowed, his hand running through his hair, stomping a few feet away. “fuck!” he screamed louder before regaining himself. He returned, gesturing frantically at me. “You’re saying of all the girls we happen to steal, we take his?” There was an importance to this person. A fear.

“Yes.” Rev continued to stand there, his frame stiff, his expression unreadable, except for a thread of wariness.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Boss paced in a circle. “What do we do? We let her go? No harm, no foul.”

“He will still come after us.”

“Then what?” Boss exclaimed.

“We wait,” Rev replied, sounding like they were all condemned to death.

“This is the Svart Vinge.” Black Wing. “You want us to wait? We wait; we die!”

“It’s already too late.” A large, hooded figure stepped out of the dark forest, his tone raspy and low, the threat of violence in every molecule he took up.

Every head whipped to the massive silhouette and the outline of a scythe in his hand, appearing like Death had come to claim its fatalities.

“You touched what is mine.” He growled, stepping closer.

“We didn’t know!” Boss held out his hands, stepping back, gesturing at me. “You can take her.”

Moving closer to the fire, the flames flickering off Onyx’s face, his gaze intent on the Boss. “That’s not how this works.”

The Northerner advanced for the men, the curve of his scythe cutting through the air for the leader. The Boss yelped, leaping back, the blade slicing through his clothes, leaving a trail of blood.

“No!” Kämpe came running from the side, his fist slamming into Onyx before the Northerner could swing toward him, toppling both men to the ground in a billowing cloud of chaos.

“Don’t just stand there!” Boss screamed at his other men, bending over in pain. Rev leaped into the fight, doubling up on the Northerner. Onyx had regained his feet, stabbing a blade into Rev’s side, the scythe whirling to chop into Kämpe.

“Stop!” Hvit surged in behind me, yanking me to him, a blade nicking my throat. Mid-fight, Onyx’s gaze snapped toward me as if he could feel my danger before he even realized it. He curved the sickle to miss Kämpe, his shoulders rising in fury.

“Drop your weapon or your little tøs will fertilize the soil,” Hvit gleefully seethed, dipping the blade into my neck, the raw skin around my throat trickling blood, soaking between my breasts.

Onyx went utterly still, his nose flaring, the nerve in his cheek jumping up and down. He visually didn’t show it, but I could feel his tension, a sense of trepidation under his skin. That everything he did to get me here would be lost in seconds.

The scythe hit the ground with a thunk, his throat bobbing, his focus on the knife at my throat.

“Fuck. How good is her pussy, if the infamous Svart Vinge will heel?” The Boss spat on the ground and his face contorted in pain as he stood up, looking from me to Onyx. He shuffled over to me, his shallow cuts soaking into his tunic. A malevolent grin curved his mouth as he lifted my hair, smelling it. “She is a stunning creature.”

Onyx inhaled, jaw rolling, his empty hands rolling into fists.

“Maybe you can watch while I sample her.” The Boss’s scared demeanor was gone, his bravado eclipsing the camp, taunting the Night Raven. “You know the law of the land here. Your thrall wandered off. Meaning finders keepers. Can’t wait to see how much she’ll go for on the market.”

Hvit grunted behind me, clearly wanting to slice my throat and be done with me. His hatred seeped into my skin, prickling at my spine.

“You touch her,” Onyx spoke cooler and calmer than I had ever heard him, which startled me, “and I will slice every one of you open like a fish, flay your lungs, stomach, liver, and heart, and slowly gut you.” He continued describing every detail of what he would do, but my attention was taken by something else. A tug on my bound ankles, a barely there sound of munching. The feel of something gnawing at the rope.

My eyes widened as the bindings fell away under my long skirt. I felt the groundling scaling up my skirt, his rough body crawling to my bound arms. Sharp teeth scraped at the inside of my wrists. Onyx was still speaking, distracting the men away from me, but his eyes slipped to mine for a brief moment, our gazes locking intently.

“Don’t react.”

The rope broke away, and my fingers wrapped around it before it dropped to the ground. Onyx’s head dipped so subtly I almost didn’t see it, but I could feel the meaning.

“Good girl.”

I bit down hard, my heart thumping with hope.